


Joy Writing

by strawberrycupcake_huckleberrypie



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben's her mystery man muse, California Christmas, Canon Related, Fluff and Smut, Fluffy Ending, I tagged it as best I can, Leia is Oprah, Meet-Cute, Metafiction, Mutual Pining, OTP vibes, Phasma Ships It, Rey's a fiction author, Sleepless in Seattle vibes, Soulmate Vibes, The Force Ships It, double meta?, dual storylines, episode IX speculation, it's only like 12K words just go with it, just trust me, okay Serendipity vibes too, she's an author writing Episode IX and he's her muse, there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-17 08:11:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16970943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrycupcake_huckleberrypie/pseuds/strawberrycupcake_huckleberrypie
Summary: It wasn’t like she was waiting for him, that would be insane.She just wanted to see him, and that was basically normal. People waited to see other people all the time.It’s not weird.That she memorized his mannerisms, daydreaming about him long after he left the cafe everyday.Not weird.******...In which Rey is a successful author with writer’s block and Mr. Mystery Man is her muse.





	1. December January February

**Author's Note:**

> for my sweet friend Alicadabri, who did this one fic compilation with me where everyone ignored us and we were just like... _shrug_. You're a doll.  
> moodboard by the magnificent @rileybabe  
> beta by my darling friends [@perrydowning](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perry_Downing/works) and [@newerconstellations](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewerConstellations/pseuds/NewerConstellations/works)

 

__

 

_December_

__________

“Hot.”

Rey’s head jerked up in response to his single word. Dark and warm, it rolled through her like a thunderstorm.

The man at the register was captivating, a tall, dark and handsome mountain. He paid for his coffee, unaware of Rey’s gaze. Her fingers hovered above the keyboard as she watched him walk to the end of the bar to await his drink, an absent hand running through his hair. He furrowed his brow while his jaw worked, stuffing the wallet into his back pocket.

Rey sipped her iced latte, readjusting to type. She pulled her shoulders back and tugged her eyes to the screen, lifting her chin to redirect her attention, chastising herself. She stared at the blinking cursor, flipping through mental files to recapture the thread.

_What happens next?_

Struggling to regain momentum, she curled her fingers to type before being sidetracked by the voice.

“Thank you,” he said, taking the cup as he strode out of the shop.

She tracked his movements as he shoved the glass door away, never breaking form as he disappeared around a corner of the building, echoing in her head. Her brain lit up like heat lightning as inspiration struck.

 

*****

 

_January_

_______

_“There’s no one here but you and I,” he glowered with a penetrative stare, twisting his screaming red blade._

_Kira’s eyes narrowed as she realized the battle had arrived,_

_and ready or not, she was about to defend her life, her friend, the essence of all the good in the universe against her foe._  

_Facing one another, neon illuminating their faces as they stood fiercely, blades drawn and chests heaving, Kira_

_bared her teeth as she tensed to strike._

_He had already wounded Taurus who lay unconscious in the snow, and Kira tightened her grip on the heavy, silver handle as she aimed for her opponent’s heart._

_He was hers, and she would take him here and now._

**** 

 

“Coffee. Black.”

Rey’s ears perked as she lifted her eyes. The familiar tone rang like a bell, tugging her from the wintry landscape of NovaBaseFour.

He was back, not that she had been watching for him while she wrote. She’d barely noticed his absence the week the cafe was closed before the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. She’d played hooky with Finn and Rose, a welcome third driver for the 8-hour road trip to Tucson for Christmas at Rose’s parents’, and when she’d confessed to Phasma she’d accomplished little in the way of writing for seven days straight, her editor told her to relax.

“It’s fine,” Phasma said dismissively. “Nothing's getting done here anyhow this week. It’s one ghastly holiday party after another. Your deadline hasn’t changed though. You know that, right?”

“Of course,” she responded. She’d expected professionalism, and Phasma never disappointed. “I’m making good headway.”

And there stood her muse ten feet away as he awaited his drink. Her agent of fortune, her antagonistic foil, her model. She studied him as she had so many days the month prior.  His regal brow, often knit deeply in disgruntled annoyance, gave way to his Roman nose set above a pouty set of lips. When he spoke, his mouth twitched with thought, so alluring it should be illegal.

Her lips parted as she mirrored his movements, watching as he removed the lid and blew a tight whisper into the cup of steaming coffee, and brought it to his mouth. She watched his Adam’s apple as he sipped, lifting and dropping rhythmically. Frantically, she lowered her gaze as he turned in her direction, heading for the exit.

She grabbed her latte hastily and gulped the cooling liquid, hurrying to disguise her shameless ogling. His shoes disappeared out the door, black-laced leather on white tile, and she breathed a sigh of anonymity.

 

*****

 

_February_

__________

_Kira woke to star shine bright across her cheeks, an unfamiliar chirping of alien creatures cooing a morning greeting._

_Errantly, she scrubbed a hand across her face as she rose, inhaling deeply as the seaside air wafted through the open casements._

_Her thoughts organized_ _as she brought her hips upright, preparing for a day training with her teacher._  

 _Suddenly, a vacuum of sound extinguished the reality of sights and sounds around her, and she focused on the image across from her._  

_There sat her enemy, unarmed and silent, wide-eyed in wonder as he held her gaze._

_Turning to face him fully, she fought her brain to dispel what must be a false vision._

_His dark eyes bore into hers as his lips parted in fascination, a moment of mutually-stunned shock paralyzing them both._

  _How could he be here - what - how -_  

_Kira panicked, her hand flying to her gun, and she grimaced ferociously as she pulled the trigger._

_****_

 

It wasn’t like she was waiting for him, that would be insane.

She just wanted to see him, and that was basically normal. People waited to see other people all the time.

_It’s not weird._

That she memorized his mannerisms, daydreaming about him long after he left the cafe everyday.

_Not weird._

 

She propped a hand beneath her chin and shoved her keyboard away from her waist slightly as she prepared to absorb his daily presence while he ordered coffee. Really, this was just analysis, Rey reminded herself, as he was the subject she modeled her male lead after in her sequel novel. Actually, this was part of her _job_ to study him in this cafe every day, so it wasn’t just staring.

It was professional research and development.

Reaching for her drink, she watched him. Admiring his tie where it lay against the hollow of his throat, dark hair curled around the shell of his ear, his teeth digging gently into the plump flesh of that bottom lip. She gasped when the plastic lid of her drink popped off, freezing iced coffee spilling into her lap as she jumped up.

A blush climbed her cheeks as she scraped back in her chair, hurrying to the bathroom. Yanking a handful of stiff brown paper towels from the silver canister, she mopped up the cold remnants of fluid with minimal success from her faded yellow button-down, shoving the long sleeves above her elbows in a huff.

_Fantastic._

She pushed the bathroom door open, inspecting her wet shirt as she stepped into the cafe’s sunshine, and she collided with a figure in her path.

“Oh!” she gasped, bracing her hands against a broad chest.  

“I’m so sorry,” came a familiar voice as Rey steadied herself on shaky legs and lifted her eyes.

_Ohmygod. Shit, it’s him._

“No, I - _I’m_ sorry,” she stuttered, taking a step back as she swallowed the lump of panic in her throat. She smiled to compensate for her awkwardness, and his lips pulled into a smirk, the crooked hint of a shy smile.

She headed around him, and he mirrored her, cutting her off.

She leaned the other way, and he followed suit.

A third time, she began and his movements matched hers until she chuckled and placed a hand at his arm to hold him still while she stepped around him with a laugh. The edge of a name _“- en”_  was scrawled beneath his thick fingers curled around the cup.

Silently, she exhaled the breath she’d been holding as she calmly wove a path to her seat. She tugged the chair beneath her table, placing her glasses atop her nose, and leaned in to type.

 _Freak out later._ _Write now._

Finally, her male lead had a name, and it was Ren.

 

****


	2. March April May

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here...have some porn.

__

_March_

______

“This is golden material, Rey. I’m telling you. I’m completely mad for it. This man you’re writing, Kylo Ren? Smoking hot. You know that. Right?” Plasma asked.

Rey smiled into the phone as she backspaced, reworking a paragraph. “That’s what I’m going for. Smoking hot and villainous. Ready to destroy our Kira in all the ways.”

“Well, it works. You’re writing the female power narrative, and it’s brilliant. I don’t know what you’re doing, but whatever it is, don’t stop.”

Rey’s attention shifted as her stranger entered the cafe, a brief glance in Rey’s direction as he walked confidently to the counter.

Eye contact had continued since the coffee collision, but they hadn’t spoken since. Rey was still working up a way into conversation that didn’t include details about her obsession with him or her extensive head canons about who he was.

_I’m writing about you._

_You’re dreamy._

_I feel like I know you._

_You satisfy the female gaze as a physical manifestation of juxtaposed hard edges and soft angles, light and dark shades, confident masculinity and shy self-deprecation in a way that makes women swoon and I can’t stop thinking about you._

She wondered what he’d say to accompany that knit-brow, vaguely irritated look, the one she’d come to expect of him. The one that said _I’ll bend you over my knee_ , the one that made her want to say _yes, sir_.

Would he laugh? Panic? Smirk? Surely, he wouldn’t be offended? He’d probably think she was a head case and bolt.

“I’ll get you that advance on the manuscript, Rey, but I mean it. Do not change a _thing_ about your process right now. You’re on fire,” Phasma said.

“Got it,” Rey murmured, watching him at the counter. 

The morning sun filtered against his pale skin. She’d memorized every mark and curve of his face, every necktie, every expression, but he was still an enigma.

He tugged the lid from his coffee cup, steam curling towards his face in a cloud. Rey jolted when he turned her direction. His eyes shot to hers as she straightened, face reddening as she busied her hands at the keyboard.

_Deadline. Awake and aware._

Eyes forward as he wound through the tables, maybe closer to Rey’s than strictly necessary, she plunked at the keys with fervor.

If she inhaled vigorously, it might be to welcome the brisk spring air, not because she strained to smell him nearby, spicy and delicious.

 _More research._  
  
That would be weird. This arrangement was many things - professional, enlightening, indulgent - but she couldn’t get weird. Not with him. Not when he looked like that.

Her shoulders released as the edges of his shined shoes exited the cafe.

 _Back to work..._  

_“Kylo,” Kira whispered desperately._

_His name was a broken plea as her tears threatened to spill._

_She implored him from her knees as he pointed his glowing, spitting sword at her chest, emotion painting his features as he struggled._

_“Earn your legacy!” the withered teacher bellowed from behind Kira’s back._

_“Take what is yours!”_

_Kira braced for the blow, her hands fisting in the binders at her wrists as she looked into Kylo Ren’s eyes steadfastly. Her breath hitched as his dark eyes flew between hers, and_

_she waited to feel something - anything - when suddenly, her chains released!_

_Her body fell unrestrained to the floor, limbs askew as she struggled to right herself, scrambling for purchase._  
  
_In shock, she pivoted to see the dying teacher still seated on his throne, the fatal blow delivered from his student even while he had stood steadily watching Kira._

_Rising bravely, she sought Kylo’s eyes, her own terror and hope mirrored in his. She illuminated her sword beside him wordlessly, and they turned as one unit to_

_prepare for the fight of their lives, no longer as enemies,_

_but as allies._

  
***

Rey rolled her shoulders, grinning at the screen as she leaned back. She’d been waiting to write this scene for months. As usual, seeing her tall stranger this morning was all the inspiration she needed. She smiled with satisfaction as she heard a throat clear, and her head sprung up. Two tables away, he sat facing her, a laptop open beside his coffee.

His eyes met hers.

He hadn’t left the cafe.

Rey’s heart raced. She looked back at the computer screen, but nothing registered. Words swirled into psychedelic squiggles. She blinked, willing her eyes to sort the letters.

 _Make the writing, do the things, move forward in a forward-like motion,_ but her twitching hands refused.

Static blurred her thoughts and she peeked again. His eyes were on hers when she looked. She swallowed hard, and smiled hesitantly.

 _Do not change a bloody thing,_ Phasma had said. _I’ll get you that advance._

Frozen, she contemplated whether she would jinx her work by approaching him. Was it stealing, to receive an advance on a work the publisher assumed would sell, if she blew her chance of completing it by defying her editor’s advice? What would she say to him, anyway?

What if she told him what she’d been doing, writing an imaginary, outer space soap opera with laser swords starring him as the male lead?

_“Oh, hey.  I’m actually obsessed with you. I spend my days writing fantasy about a fictional character modeled after you.”_

_“Oh, hey. I’ve committed all your mannerisms to memory. As one does with total strangers.”_

_“Oh, hey. It’s me. The idiot with a lady boner for your heavenly, oversized man body, and your perfect aura of restrained power.”_

Before she could fashion a reasonable greeting, she heard him speak.

“Hello.”

Then it was Rey’s turn to talk.

Rey, the author.

Rey, better known as Rachel Wilder, whose freshman offering was lauded as _“The Next Great American Sci-Fi Novel.”_

Rey _,_ whose second book sat incomplete, blinking on her screen.

Whose writer’s block only evaporated when the man sitting opposite her opened his mouth and spoke.

Whose mastery of the English language was apparently limited by the presence of devastatingly handsome men with amused brown eyes who smelled of lust and black coffee.

 

That Rey had to talk now.

“Hello.”

 _Extraordinary_.

If she’d hoped to add to their conversation, she lost the opportunity in the next heartbeat, as the man of her literal dreams answered a phone call that demanded his attention.

Rey righted her eyes, excusing herself from overhearing the stranger’s personal business, but she wondered if she only imagined his eyes on her while he chatted.

“No.” His defiant voice filled the small cafe easily. “Tell him I said no.”

Rey stole a glance and her breath hitched to see he _was_ watching her, guileless and intent, as he listened. Emboldened, she met his gaze and held eye contact across the room. His nostrils flared and his jaw flexed as he exhaled hard, and his eyes slid shut.

“Alright, fine. I’ll be there.”

Tearing her eyes away to offer him privacy, she adjusted her hands to type, peering one last time to see him pack his belongings and stand.

His lips parted as if to speak, and Rey’s eyebrows lifted in anticipation, but he swallowed instead, clenching a fist, as he turned.

The door chimed when he exited, and within a minute someone else claimed his seat.

 

If she’d known he wasn’t going to return the next day, Rey would have followed him, book deal or not.

 

*****

 

_April_

_______

“You’re never going to meet anyone this way,” Finn said as he crunched a taco.

_Why do people in relationships insist we all be in one?_

“Who says I haven’t met someone?”

He cocked his head and glared. “Being infatuated with your own fictional character isn’t ‘meeting someone.’”

Rey rolled her eyes and pushed the food around her plate. “Kylo Ren is _not_ fictional. He’s a real person. I’ve met him.”

“So, you’re saying you’ve talked to him. In real life. The guy at the cafe.”

“Yes. I’ve _talked_ to him.”

“Wow, okay. My bad. So, what did you talk about?”

Rey took a bite of her salad, meeting his eyes across the table as she chewed. She sipped her water before she spoke. “We just said hello, alright? But, it was more than that, Finn, I’m telling you.  We had a connection. It’s like what happens when I write about him. It’s like...I _know_ him. Like in another life, or something.”

His expression morphed from accusation to pity, and Rey’s face screwed up with indignation.

“Stop looking at me that way, I’m serious! I know what I felt. I just can’t explain it.”

Finn shrugged and shook his head while he ate. “I’m sorry. I just want you to meet someone special. You’re my best friend, and I love you.”

“Well, I love you, too, and I’m telling you I _have_ met someone.”

“Someone you’re willing to speak to beyond a greeting. You know what I mean,” he said. “To _be_ with.”

“That’s sweet. But, I am perfectly happy with things the way they are in my life. Just because you have a significant other doesn’t mean I need to have one, too.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I give.”

“Thank you.”

“If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

“Good, because I am. I’m very, very happy.” 

Rey was not happy.

Her stranger hadn’t been to the cafe in two weeks. It was the longest she’d gone without seeing him since she’d first laid eyes on him in December.

_Is it possible to miss him?_

Fortunately, her writing had continued to be propelled by thoughts of him, present or not.

While she hoped he would make an appearance, giving her the chance to speak to him, or at least smell his goddamn ruinous cocktail of man and sex again, she was comforted by the fact she’d produced more content than ever before...

 

_The environment around her evaporated as Kylo came into focus,_

_their eyes meeting across the stars again._

_Time stood still as Kira gulped down her anxiety. Her brows met in consternation as she wondered whether he was her enemy_ _or her ally now._

 _He faced her silently, his head on the pillow beside hers as they_ _stared into one another’s eyes._

_She wondered what her compatriots would think,_

_finding her face-to-face in bed beside the Galactic Sovereign,_

_known for his fits of rage and legions of soldiers._

_To her though, he was only Kylo, and Kira was transfixed as she considered his handsome face and mournful demeanor._

_Can he be as sad as I am?_

_Does he miss me as I miss him?_

_Is that even possible?_

_“I do,” he mumurmed._

_“Don’t -” she flinched, “- don’t listen to my thoughts.”_

_“Don’t think so loudly,” he retorted._

_Kira turned onto her back to face the ceiling. It was far too intimate to lie side-by-side, studying one another in the moonlight._

_It was all too similar to her hopes, familiar as her dreams._

_“Go away,” she said._

_“I’m not there anyway,” he sighed, rolling to his back. “There’s nowhere to go. I can’t escape you, it would seem.”_

_It burned to think he wanted freedom. He had refused to be hers, broken her heart, and now he admitted to wanting her gone._

_“You could_ try _to leave me be,” she asserted. “You_ are _my mortal enemy, after all. In case you’re too busy pursuing the Freedom Fighters to remember.”_

_“The Fighters are no real threat to my power,” he said without arrogance. “I only have one objective in locating the Fighter base.”_

_Conflict stirred her thoughts._

_“We could forget everything else that’s happened. You could just abandon this conflict.”_

_“The way you abandoned me?” he snapped._

_Kira turned to face him, regarding his profile as he faced the ceiling._

_“I didn’t abandon you, Kylo,” she argued, “you refused to help me.”_

_“So, you left me to die on the floor,” he said spitefully, meeting her eyes. “Bleeding and broken. After we’d fought together. After we’d touched. After I’d killed my teacher because he’d hurt you, because he’d…”_

_Kira felt a wave of pain flood her soul, Kylo’s emotions streaming into her psyche as he recounted his pain, and her breath hitched at the agony._

_He had suffered, and the depth of his hurt left her breathless._

_“Kylo…” she began, lifting a hand to the space between their prone bodies._

_He disappeared as she watched, gone in a breath, and Kira was left staring at the void his absence left behind._

_*****_  

_May_

____

At some point, she was going to need to choose a different location to complete this novel, that’s all there was to it. Her deadline loomed, imposing and persistent, and she was getting nowhere in this cafe.

Without her stranger, the well of inspiration had run dry, and she had trouble finding a rhythm of productivity, given how often her eyes flew to the door as it chimed. Again and again, she looked up from her work, only to be disappointed.

 _Don’t change a bloody thing._ Phasma’s voice rang in her head, but that was back when Rey had been on a roll, and now circumstances were different.

_Time for a change of scenery._

Depositing her belongings into her bag quickly, her heart leapt when a deep voice at the counter snagged her attention. Swinging around wildly, her heart skipped as she looked for her stranger.  
  
_Is that him? He’s back?_  
Her heart slumped as a muscular, blonde surfer in board shorts paid for his chai tea latte. There may have been a more complete polar opposite of Kylo Ren living somewhere on the planet, but Rey couldn’t imagine it.  
Her inspirational well had dried up, and with it her devotion to this seat. She hurried from the cafe to continue work elsewhere.  
  
Only when she climbed atop her comfortable queen-sized bed, propped against ample pillows to resume typing did she glimpse the black cord leading to a bedside table drawer charging her toy. It alone was her confidante, the pocket-sized participant in her ritual, hearer of her stifled moans and shuddering gasps.  
Biting her lip, she reflected how often she’d been reduced to a whimpering mess imagining her tall stranger at night.  
  
His rumbling voice, his moonlight skin, onyx eyes and plum-colored mouth, that was all the inspiration needed since December.

It might have been humbling to admit getting off to the memory of her cafe stranger for months, but it was also plenty of source material from which to draw...

 

_The extreme silence accompanying his appearance startled Kira awake,_

_and her eyes fluttered open._

_Her surroundings familiar, she regained her bearings in the dark, stunned breathless when she found Kylo stretched out beside her._  
  
_Lying nude on the bed, his long, pale arms spread haphazardly as his back rose and fell._

_Kira’s heart pounded erratically as her eyes ran the length of his frame._

_Broad and thick, the milky expanse of his naked back drew her eye, the inverse of the onyx, layered attire he normally wore._ _  
_ _Dark, unruly locks fell over his sleeping face, his generous eyelashes a startling contrast against his creamy skin._

_His regal neck and arched collarbone led to the firm curve_ _of his shoulder, ripe as a jogan fruit._

_Sinew braided with blue veins beneath his marble skin, and Kira snatched her hand back before she absently reached out._

_His lungs expanded as he breathed rhythmically, his skin drawn tight over powerful fibers pulled taut._ _  
_ _Scars and cuts in various stages of healing left trails across his back._

 _Kira’s eyes traced the lash marks as they led to his exposed bottom._ _  
_

_The bedclothes ended at his thighs.  Legs apart, a knee raised, his solid backside shown unmistakably in the inky night, round and firm._

_Kira’s eyes widened as she allowed herself to stare undisturbed, and she drank her fill of his slumbering form._

_The peaceful room held its breath as Kira brushed an errant curl from his forehead, eyelids twitching as her fingertips grazed his lashes._

_She stole closer._

_Slipping her hands under, she lifted his heavy arm and shimmied beneath its anchoring weight, laying it gently across her waist._

_His bare arm locked her beside him as he slept._

_Instinctually, she snuggled further to his side seeking comfort, and her eyes slid closed as she felt him rouse, tightening his arm around her middle._  

_“Kira,” he whispered._

_“Shhh,” she hummed, her eyes still closed. “We’re dreaming.”_

_Her breathing came in shallow puffs as she felt him move closer, burying his face in her neck. She reached to thread fingers through his hair, her eyes squeezed shut in denial._

_Her back arched when he groaned, his lips finding the tender skin at her throat, leaving a trail of kisses as her hands tangled in his hair._

_“Shhh,” she admonished._

_“Waited for you,” he murmured, sucking the skin of her neck gently as she struggled for sanity. “Looked for you.”_  

_Lifting his hips, his knee spread her legs apart as his lips found hers, and she felt the press of his warm, sleepy mouth._

_Satin-soft and generous, he kissed her until she licked at the seam of his lips, curious to taste him and anxious to deepen their connection._

_His tongue caressed hers as he touched her face, scooping her chin into his palm._

  _“Kylo, Kylo,” she whispered, as his mouth moved to her cheeks, her neck, her earlobe, nibbling a trail to her collarbone as she bent, starved for contact._

_Lying in the cradle of her hips, his bare, hardened length against her slim form, she wiggled closer, wishing her layers of undergarments were gone._

_Slowly, his pelvis pressed at her wet cunt,and she throbbed on contact as a hint of his seed barely dampened her clothes._

 

_“You came to me,” he murmured, his hands running atop her clothes where they lay whispering in the dark._

_His fingers found her waist, and then her arms as he curled them around his neck, encouraging her to embrace him._

_“I’ve come to you before,” she whispered. “I’m drawn to you.”_

_Dragging him closer, she ran her greedy hands against his naked skin, and her mouth watered._

_His fingertips trailed from arms to hips, while he thrust slowly, driving Kira mad with need._

 

_“Don’t let me go,” he murmured, pulling her spread legs around his waist._

_He tugged her breast band below a nipple and moaned as he wrapped his lips around it to suck._

_Kira flew apart, gasping loudly as she arched into his chest._

_“Shhh,” he hummed, laying a hand over her mouth, his turn to quiet her enthusiastic noises._  

_Replacing his hand with his lips, he kissed her until she panted, writhing hungrily._

_Slipping a hand between them, he teased a finger against the fabric covering her cunt, groaning as Kira gasped and clawed._

_Her skin pulsed hot and needy, aggravated in her attempts to get closer._

_Eagerly, she nodded and moaned as he traced a trail from damp slit to waistband, his mouth ravaging hers as she waited for him to do something -_ anything _._  

_She tugged his hair harder and whimpered as her patience wore thin._

_Just as she was about to tear her clothes off, begging to be filled, her eyes snapped open._

_A heartbeat later, she was heaving for air alone in her bed._

_Kylo was gone, and she was bereft._

_Turning onto her side in anguish and disappointment, she_

_welled with tears and angrily kicked the covers aside._

_***_

 

 _Tough shit, Kira._   _If I can't have him, neither can you._

 

*****


	3. June July August

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kira, at least, gets lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because y'all are too good to me. I didn't think anyone would read this thing! Have a chapter and Happy Friday <3  
> 

_June_

______

“You don’t have any idea who he was? Not a clue?”

The aproned cafe employee stared at Rey blankly, her bejeweled nose twinkling as she chomped gum.

“Who?”

“A guy. A man. About 6 foot and change? Dark hair, super hot. Used to come in every morning for black coffee?”

The young woman stared and shook her head, as Rey’s blood pressure rose.  “What’s his name?”

“That’s what I’m asking _you_ ,” Rey gritted out. “If you remember him? Like maybe a name?”

“What’s this about?” Another employee appeared at the young woman’s elbow, looking at Rey across the counter.

She drew a deep breath and tried again. “There was a man who came in here every day, all winter. Always ordered black coffee. Tall with longish, dark hair. Ring any bells?”

Both employees shook their heads, eyebrows raised in confusion. 

  
_For fuck’s sake._

“Okay. Thanks.”  Rey didn’t have time for this bullshit anyhow. She needed get the damn thing completed.

All that was left was the climactic battle scene and the final act wrapping her book before it was off to Phasma for slicing and dicing. Once she parted with this work, she’d part with Kylo Ren, and as much as she wanted to meet her deadline, she couldn’t help but anticipate grieving the loss. If only she knew his name. Maybe she just needed to complete the manuscript and be done with it...

_Zap! Pew-pew! Zimm!_

_Kira dodged and ran for cover, rolling a somersault as she avoided fire._

_Her blazing blue sword carving a wide swath of soldiers aside as she ran._

_Absently, she heard Taurus shout for her, and she scanned the approaching hoards of white, plastene-armored troops, but he was hidden from her view._ _  
_ _Exhausted and filthy, she released a feral yowl as she raised her sword high, limbs flying and guns firing as bombs dropped around them._

 _The fighting muted as Kylo materialized, caped and clean, seated as he piloted a craft with a furrowed brow in her periphery._  
  
_“I don’t have time for this,” she spat angrily, whirling to deliver a death blow to an approaching battalion._

_“Kira, get out of there,” he insisted, his voice hoarse with feeling. “Please!”_

_“Does it look -_ ugh _\- like I have much choice right now -_ oof!” _she grunted, tossing a fallen soldier._

_“Kira, for kriff’s sake, listen to me! Get off that godsdamned planet! Now!” he yelled._

_“No,” she grunted, slicing a soldier in half. “I can’t leave them!” she screamed, motionting to the Freedom Fighters pinned down behind a barricade._

_Rapid fire above shocked her as the troops she faced fell one after another, an offering at her feet while she stood panting for breath._ _  
_ _Wiping the sweat from her brow, she pushed the hair off her face, dust smearing her skin as she shaded her eyes._

 _Above her, Kylo’s ship dove sharply to scatter the advancing troops. Firepower from his laser cannons flew spectacularly as the_ Vendetta _maneuvered pivots and climbs, relieving the Fighters from their trapped position._

 _Missiles hit their mark with exquisite accuracy and a slow smile spread across Kira’s face, knowing it was Kylo who flew to lend assistance both to her and to those she cared about._  
  
_Grinning, she watched his ship impressively pick off entire squadrons as he sailed expertly above the fray, and she turned to cut through the rest of the rabble._  
With renewed vigor, she sliced through the enemy lines, spelling certain doom with her sword.

 _The tide of the battle shifted as she fought her way across the field._ _  
_ _When Kylo’s aircraft landed, Taurus and Jon raced to attack, but Kira reached him well before they arrived, weaving through littered bodies and recovering heroes to reach her goal._

_As soon as he descended the stairs, she pulled Kylo into her arms as he lifted her from the battlefield, his face in her hair as he held her close._

_His black cape whipped around them in the hot wind as she cradled his face in her mud-caked hands, brown streaks lining her face as tears streamed down her cheeks._  
_“You came to me,” she cried, a break in her voice as she looked into his eyes._  
_“It was my turn,” he said, leaning to kiss her deeply._  
  
_When her feet touched the parched soil again, she turned with a broad smile, and her eyes landed on her friends who stood bewildered as they gaped._  
_The Galactic Sovereign, robed in princely ebony attire, disentangling from the disheveled, independent girl from the sand world, stood united before them, glowing with joy and harmony._

_****_

 

Standing to stretch, Rey twisted half-circles, joints crackling with movement. She was closing in on the finish line.

 _Alright, fine._ _You can have your happy ending. Next chapter, Kira_. _I promise._

 

*****

 

_July_

_____

“I’ll be there by five,” Rey promised Rose over the phone. “Text me if there’s anything else you want me to bring.”

Her fingers flew as she hurried to complete the scene before heading to the party. She knew Rose and Finn had been attempting to fix her up with a blind date, and she’d procrastinated for a solid month.

“Sure you can’t come over before? Help me set up?”

“Really gotta get this done, Ro,” Rey said, fingers zooming over the keys. “Be there tonight. Promise.”

She had one week left till her deadline, and she needed to take advantage of the entire day, even if the rest of the country was in full-on celebration mode. It was also as good an excuse as she’d get to postpone meeting a random man. She had today to spend with Kylo, and she wanted it to be a good one...

 

 _“You will leave this cell, and not return for one hour,” Kira told the guard._ _  
_ _“I will leave this cell, and not return for one hour,” he repeated._

_Perhaps it wasn’t best to brain-hoax a fellow Freedom Fighter, but Kira’s agenda required privacy, and a guard’s presence hampered her plan._

_Besides, Kylo wasn’t going anywhere, and if he did she was the only one capable of deterring him._

_The temporary holding cell where she found Kylo was an unnecessary formality to Kira and anyone else who had seen his efforts_

_on behalf of the Fighters on Ajada._

_Kylo had fought and defended Kira and her friends._

_He had nothing more to prove to her, and his submission to the process while he awaited trial confirmed it._

_Opening the cell, she slipped inside, and placed the key on the table as she locked the door from the inside, no chance for interruption._

 

_“Kira?” Kylo asked, stirring as he rose to sit on the bunk._

_Her eyes adjusted to the light, and she crossed the room as she held his gaze._

_“Kylo,” she said, tugging the strings on her wraps free._

_With each slow step, she unwound the fabric until she dropped the layer where it fell._

_“My love,” she said, untying and disposing of her breast binder as she approached, bare breasts reflecting the moonlight as it shown through the sole casement._  

_“My prince,” she whispered as she stepped from her pants, naked under his gaze, save her armbands._

_His eyes lit with wonder, lips parted in fascination as she approached. He gazed at her worshipfully as she stood nude between his knees._ _  
_ _Running a hand through his hair, she watched as his gaze roamed her bare body, his hands tugging her closer._  

_“I love you,” she confessed, delighting as his eyes flew to hers, his fingers gripping her hips tightly._

_“I..I...Kira, I’m not worthy,” he choked out, his eyes shut as his jaw clenched._

_“Kylo, look at me,” she instructed, a finger curled under his chin. “ I choose for myself,” she murmured tenderly.  “And I choose you.”_  

_His eyes searched hers intently until she crushed his lips with her own, and he whimpered as she ran her nails through his hair._

_“I am already yours,” she whispered as she found his ear._

_Growling, he swept her onto the linens in one motion, ripping clothes from his body while she watched, elbows holding her aloft._

_With a sly smile she met his ravenous kiss, and when the glory of his skin covered hers, she almost melted._

_The universe buzzed in blissful chorus as their arms came around each other, and Rey climbed atop his broad frame. With a hand on his thick cock, she eased herself down, watching as every ridged inch disappeared._

_“So beautiful,” Kylo murmured, his hands on her breasts, caressing her soft-tipped nipples as she rode him. “I love you.”_

_“I know,” she told him, grinning victoriously as her hair whipped violently._

_She sat tall as she claimed him, gliding around his hard length with jealous love and devoted ardor._

_With hands laced and eyes locked, they chased their peaks together, and she cried his name in impassioned ecstasy carelessly when she came._

_****_

Sighing, Rey exited the screen and closed her computer. The July mid-day sun shined brightly, and a American flag waved from her neighbor’s mailbox.  
  
_Well,_ _I’m happy for you, Kira. I’m just bummed for me._

 

_*****_

 

_August_

_________

 

“I’ve got interviews set up with _Newsweek_ , _People_ , and the _Times_ ,” Phasma said.

“Already? Isn’t it a little early for all that?”

“Don’t tell me you’re nervous.” She raised a glass, catching the server’s eye for another. “You’ve been through all this. You know the drill.”

“I know, but I just finished the book. Don’t you want to be sure it’s good first?”

“I’ve seen enough. This isn’t my first rodeo. I’m very good at my job.”

Rey stifled an eye roll and sipped her Coke.

“As are you. You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Phasma said. “A couple book signings, an audio recording, some interviews, and voilà! We’ve got ourselves a bestseller.”

“Alright.” Rey sighed. “You’re the boss.”

Phasma considered her with a critical eye, tilting her head with concern.

“What’s going on with you? Are you depressed?”

“No.”

 _Not exactly_.

“Sick? Are you pregnant?”

“Jesus, Phasma! No! I’m just distracted. It’s a big deal completing the book.”

“I just thought you’d be happier with the publicity. Most young authors would give their left arm to work a circuit like this. You act like I gave you a ticket to board the Titanic.”

Rey shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be whiney. I’m thankful for everything you’ve done for the book. Thank you. Really.”

“Alright…” Phasma said, warily.

“It’s something else bothering me. It’s silly.”

Phasma’s eyebrows raised as she waited.

“It’s really nothing. Just a - a quandary.”

“A quandary.”

“Personally.”

“Okay.”

“Not professionally.”

_Silence._

“It’s just weighing on me.”

Phasma drew a breath and leaned in. “You know, Rey, some people think of their editor as their shrink. After all, your success is _our_ success. I can’t make us successful unless I know what the problem is.”

Rey took a deep breath and exhaled through pursed lips. “It’s my stranger. My muse. He’s disappeared.”

“He did?”

“Yes. And I’ve limped along finishing the book without him, but he’s just...gone.”

Phasma blinked twice.  
  
“Kylo Ren? _The_ Kylo Ren? You lost him?”

“I didn’t _lose_ him. He disappeared. Stopped coming to the cafe. I’ve asked around, waited to see him again but…” She shrugged and crossed her legs the other direction under the tablecloth “I haven’t seen him since March.”

Phasma’s lips tugged into a smirk that slowly consumed her full lips until her face transformed fully. “You lost Kylo Ren,” she said, leaning back with a wide grin as laughter erupted.

Rey watched her, annoyed. She took a sip of Coke with irritation. “I don’t know what’s so funny.”

“This has to be the best hook I’ve ever heard and it’s fallen into my lap,” Phasma murmured happily, eyes shimmering.

Rey blinked at her expectantly, confused. “I don’t get it. You’re happy, but I have no idea what to do about this.”

“Oh, I’ll tell you _exactly_ what we’re about to do about it, Rachel Wilder,” Phasma said, using Rey’s pen name.

Palms at the edge of the table, her blue eyes pierced Rey’s as she leaned in.

 

“We go and find him.”

It was Rey’s turn to raise her eyebrows as Phasma held her martini aloft. “To _The Final Knight_!”

“ _The Final Knight_ ,” Rey shrugged, clinking her glass to Phasma’s.

 

*****

 


	4. September October November

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am a sucker with no self control as a person and I will post anything you want.

_September_

____________

“So, Rachel. What can you tell us about the new book?”

 

Rey’s hands twisted in her lap and she leaned towards the microphone. She tucked her shoes inside the stool rungs, and swallowed. “Um, well. It’s a continuation of Kira’s story.”

The interviewer nodded and Rey went on, gulping past her racing heartbeat.

“It’s the classic heroine’s journey I wrote in _The Power Kindling. So,_ I’m really excited to finally share it.” Rey reminded herself of Phasma’s instructions as she surveyed the massive, expectant crowd. _“Just pump them up,”_ Phasma had said while snuffing a cigarette. _“Really leave them wanting more.”_

Rey smiled as the crowd clapped, a few shouts of _“We love you, Rachel”_ punctuating the enthusiasm as the moderator checked her notes. She threw a tiny wave before lacing her hands in her lap. Too much movement and she was liable to fly off the stool and off the stage. The audience, littered with Kira and Galactic Sovereign cosplayers, beamed up at her in the footlights.

“Right!” the interviewer said. “And so, tell us a little about where we meet up with our heroine when the book opens. Give us a little teaser, Rachel!” She looked towards the audience and then back at Rey as the crowd applauded. “How about a little insider scoop, huh?”

Rey’s eyes flew to Phasma backstage as the audience cheered in noisy agreement. Phasma winked with a head nod, arms folded over her chest as she balanced on stilettos.

“So, uh, when the book opens…”

“T _he Final Knight_ ,” the interviewer interrupted.

“That’s right, _The Final Knight_...” Rey answered, delaying as the crowd whooped boisterously. She smiled and rubbed her hands on her knees as she waited.

“When _The Final Knight_ opens, Kira is with the Freedom Fighters, running from the Galactic Sovereign across the universe, but that doesn’t last for long.”

The moderator gaped animatedly, turning her face to the crowd in exaggerated shock. “It doesn’t?” she gasped. 

  
“Nope,” Rey smiled, relaxing at the silliness of the exchange. “It doesn’t.”

“Well, I wonder,” the interviewer said, her mouth closer to the microphone, her words echoing louder through the auditorium. “Why might _that_ be?”

Rey’s face split with a wide grin as she decided to play along, eating up the crowd’s enthusiasm. Her lips touched the microphone as she leaned in closely and annunciated clearly. 

“Because Kira is in love with him.” Absolute pandemonium ensued as the room burst with chaos. Kira’s fans exploded in joyful shouts so loud, she couldn’t hear herself as Rey laughed along.  

“So, no more hemming and hawing? No more will-they-won’t-they? We’re going to get a definitive answer about the nature of Kira’s relationship with the Galactic Sovereign one way or another in this book?”

Rey smiled and bit her lip, stealing another look at Phasma. “Oh yes,” she pronounced into the mic, sending the audience into a tizzy again. “If you call intimate relations _‘definitive'_.”

Chuckling, she watched as her fans reacted to her teasing, high-fiving and hugging one another while bouncing in their seats. A couple people wiped tears away, leaving Rey amazed at the depth of their investment.

“Wow,” the moderator said. “ _Wow._ But, we haven’t actually _seen_ the new Galactic Sovereign in the first book as I recall, is that right?”

“Right,” Rey confirmed. “So far, we’ve only heard about him, or seen him from a distance through a mask. Only Kira has seen him until this book, so I’m very excited to see what my readers feel about the reveal.”

 

A hum of enthusiasm buzzed through the room while the interviewer sat up tall and nodded to the audience before turning to Rey.

“And what, can you tell us about the Galactic Sovereign, Ms. Wilder? Any hints you can give us about him? I know we have some ladies in the audience who would be more than grateful to know what’s under all that black fabric,” she teased. “Am I right, ladies?”

“What’s under the mask, Rachel?” the audience called. “Tell us!”

Phasma shook her head where she stood waiting in the wings, and Rey bit her lip before answering. “I can’t tell you exactly what he looks like, I’m sorry,” Rey said sympathetically as the room devolved into a mournful chorus of moans. “But,” she added, “I _can_ tell you he’s based on a real-life person, and that person is 100%, grade-A hunk material.”

“Oh my god!” the interviewer intoned, standing to fan herself theatrically as she paced the stage, facing the audience. “Oh my good God, have _mercy_ , Ms. Wilder,” she continued, fanning herself as she was seated opposite Rey again.

Rey laughed, twisting her feet beneath the stool rungs, watching the audience sit back down.

_Okay. This is fun._

“A hunk, you say,” she continued, leaning in to speak more closely with Rey. “Any hints you might want to drop about who this secret hunk is?”

 

Phasma shook her head firmly and raised an eyebrow as warning as Rey glanced at her. Finding Kylo Ren was one thing, spoiling a franchise too early was another.

Rey shook her head decisively as she waited for the crowd to simmer before answering.

“My team says you’ll have to buy the book,” she said, causing a new round of shouts.

“Awww!” the moderator whined into the mic, sympathizing with a disappointed audience. “Fair enough, I guess, fair enough. We’ll just all have to go out and buy the book now, won’t we?” the interviewer demanded of the crowd as she leaned to grasp Rey’s hand.

“Great job,” she said under her breath, the mic at her hip as the crowd stood to cheer. “Sorry about all the racket, you really did a great job. Thanks.”

“Oh! Thank _you!_ ” Rey answered, looking at Phasma who sent another wink her way.

 _One_ _down, a dozen to go._

 

*****

 

_October_

________

“I wrote a one-hundred-seventeen-thousand word novel about a heroine’s journey and - oh! Guess what? _You’re_ the love interest, that’s what I’d say. And I’d sound like a fucking _nut_ job.”

“Okay, but seriously? At this point what other choice do you have?” Rose asked.

Rey crumbled the tiny, damp napkin as she finished her ginger ale and groaned. She really hated flying.

“You won’t let yourself get interested in anyone else,” Rose said, “and you’re still lusting over the ghost of some cafe stranger.”

“He has a name,” Rey mumbled.

“Yeah. But, you...you don’t know it, babe.” Rose’s gaze met Rey’s with the gentle truth. Rey met her friend’s eyes as she sighed and threw her hands up.

“He was real. Okay? I know no one believes me, but he _was_. He was real.”

“Hey, I believe you!” Rose held her hands up in surrender. “I just wanna help you get to the bottom of this.”

“I know.”

“So, the only choices you have left as I see it are to forget about him and move on, or meet him and put this thing to bed. One way or another,” she added, elbowing Rey who rolled her eyes and looked out the airplane window. The Rockies reached for the atmosphere as the plane glided east, heading for the Big Apple for the balance of Rey’s media tour.

 _The Final Knight_ had gained excellent pre-sales momentum, due in no small part to Phasma’s brilliant marketing scheme that perfectly intersected Rey’s personal priorities. Once the media caught wind of Rachel Wilder’s secret inspiration for the Galactic Sovereign, they’d angled most interviews that direction.

No one else knew Rey had drawn a blank when it came to that character until her muse ordered coffee at the L.A. cafe last December, but Rey would never forget.

 

_“Who is he?”_

_“What does he look like?”_

_“And you say he’s a real person, is that right, Ms. Wilder?”_

 

They couldn’t get enough of the salacious mystery, and Rey hoped it would somehow help her connect the dots, but so far no such luck.

She limited details at Phasma’s insistence, hoping she wouldn’t spoil the book’s success because of her enthusiastic pursuit of his whereabouts, but with only two more interviews to go, she was losing hope.

 _It really was ridiculous to think I’d somehow find him on a press tour for a sci-fi book_ , but every time she closed her eyes to sleep she saw his dark hair, haunting eyes, and berry-stained lips. Pretty soon, she’d surely forget what he looked like altogether, replaced by her own descriptions of Kylo Ren, and the thought made her sad all over again.

“It’s been too long,” Rey said. She stared out the oval window as they winged their way to NYC. “It’s been more than six months since I’ve even laid eyes on the man. I need to let it go.”  
  
Rose looked out the window beyond Rey for a moment before speaking. “Normally, I would agree with you, but you are about to go on _Leia_. _Leia_ , Rey, one of the biggest talk shows in the world. Millions of people tune in every day. You would have _killed_ for this opportunity before the first book. If there was a platform to use to get a message out there, this could be it.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Hey. Is this the female power narrative or not? You’re the heroine, Rey Jackson - Rachel Wilder - whoever you are. You deserve a happy ending, too.”

Rey’s head leaned atop Rose’s as it landed gently on her shoulder, thankful to have a best girlfriend with her to navigate The Big Apple.

_I’ll see if Leia can help me, but after that I need to move on._

 

_*****_

 

_November_

___________

 

“Now, correct me if I’m wrong, I was told you fashioned this Galactic King character after someone you know. Is that right?”

Rey felt her cheeks heat beneath the blinding studio lights as the audience roared their interest in unison. Leia’s leg swung rhythmically as she sat grinning, enjoying the gossip.

“Well, I…” Rey sputtered, gulping as she scanned the crowd for Rose. A quick thumbs-up once she located her friend, and Rey shifted in her cushioned armchair.

“Um, yes. Basically.”

“Well, hell, Rachel, tell me about _that_ ,” Leia said as a soft murmur of laughter waved through the studio audience.

“Well, I wanted this sort of dominant, but sympathetic male lead for the Galactic Sovereign.”

“Oh right, sorry. Sovereign, not king, that’s right,” Leia nodded. “Go on.”

 

_This is easy. Okay. Whew._

 

“I always felt Kira would only be attracted to someone strong, so he needed to be intimidating, as well as alluring, because I always intended her to have this irresistible romance with him.”

“So, you’ve had this planned all along, is that right?” Eyebrows raised above her glasses, she focused solely on Rey’s response, as if they were talking privately, and Rey almost forgot this was a very widely-televised show.

“Yes,” Rey grinned, eyes flying to the audience as she admitted a major plot point. “I’ve always been a sucker for a love story. I became just completely obsessed with this concept of a heroine’s journey through the lens of the female power narrative, featuring an egalitarian love story.”

She glanced at the audience who sat listening with rapt attention and pushed forward as Leia stroked her chin, listening.

“I wanted to tell the story of a strong woman’s move from enemy to lover of an equally-matched, antagonistic foil, a powerful and balanced love of her own choosing.”

Leia smirked and raised her brows briefly. “A girl after my own heart. Headstrong and lovesick, sounds like someone else I know,” she chuckled, twisting to wink at the audience who chuckled in agreement.

“Talk to me about this mystery man of yours I keep hearing about,” Leia said. “Is it true he’s the inspiration for your space prince?”

Rey nodded and blushed further as the audience _woo’_ ed. “It’s really not that big of a deal,” Rey laughed, embarrassed by the crowd’s interest.

“Oh, I think we all beg to differ.”

“I just mean, Kylo is based off someone I saw, not someone I really _know_ ,” Rey explained.

“Say more words,” Leia prompted, a furrowed brow settling as she leaned in.

Rey drew a breath. “Well, I normally write sitting in this little cafe back in L.A., and I always sit at the same table, same chair. You know - superstition and all that.”

Leia nodded, patiently waiting as she lifted a chin in concentration.

“And then one day, I was writing, just about the time I needed to flesh out this character, and I saw a man. In the cafe. And something just - I don’t know, sort of _struck_ me - like lightning. And all of a sudden my vision got very clear of exactly how I wanted to write him. This masculine, beautiful, strong, but tender, fierce, but enticing man.”

Leia raised an eyebrow as she faced the audience briefly with a sly smile before returning her attention to Rey. 

“And so, where is this real-life, ‘fierce, but enticing’ mystery man of yours?” Leia asked, employing air quotes.

“I don’t know,” Rey said softly.

“What?”

“I don’t know. One day he just stopped coming to the cafe and I...I never saw him again.”

A word snagged her throat on delivery, the threat of sudden tears pinching  her eyes.

 

 _You’ll cry,_ Rose had warned. _Leia gets everyone to cry,_ she’d said, making Rey scoff.

 _Not me_ , she’d said. _No way_.

 

Leia’s honey-brown eyes crinkled sympathetically. “Oh, sweetheart. Fucketty- _fuck_ , that’s awful.”

The segment director brought a weary hand to his face in exasperation at Leia’s we’ll-known gift for cursing. Her delivery was so compassionate though, she never skipped a beat.  

“He was just a stranger, really,” Rey insisted, a lump thickening in her throat. She studied her hands in her lap when Leia’s gaze became too precious, and sniffled quietly.

“It always hurts to lose someone important,” Leia said clearly. “And this boy was important to you.”

Rey sniffled more loudly, glancing at Rose who sat chewing a thumbnail nervously in the front row. The audience was silent, hushed by the magic of authenticity Leia cast over the studio. Leia handed Rey a tissue box, and Rey wiped her face.

“He _was_ important,” Rey admitted, sniffing. “He was more than a concept to me he was...he was…” she searched the ceiling for answers. Rey, author of two highly-acclaimed novels, stammered on national television as she sought the right word.

“He was a possibility,” Leia finished. “Sounds like a promising one.” She leaned closer and patted Rey’s hand with care, a smile gracing her kind face.

“Yeah,” Rey whimpered. “He was.”

Leia sighed and nodded wisely. “Hope is a treasure my dear. You gotta hang onto it tight.”

Rey nodded solemnly and wiped her tears.

“Well, rest assured,” Leia continued, “we’ll do everything possible in our power to help you find Kylo Ren. I’d bet my life we’ve got everything we need.”

Her head tilted with such confident sympathy, Rey was tempted to believe her. She nodded and smiled weakly at the talk show host as Leia patted her hand, and her mind tuned out as the cue cards were read, taking them to commercial break. Leia sat patting Rey’s hand until the set director called the all-clear. When she finally stood, Leia pulled her in closely for a right embrace.

“You,” Leia announced, “are a wonderful girl, Rachel Wilder. And I’m serious. Any fellas want to get in touch with you, we’ll screen them and send them your way. We’ll find this fuck-o one way or another, don’t you worry.”

“Leia, thank you. That’s really so nice,” Rey smiled, taking her hands.

  
“Meh, don’t mention it,” she shrugged. “I love _love._ And listen. If, for whatever reason, you _don’t_ find this son of a bitch, Kylo Ren person, I’ve got a son who’s still single,” she said with a wink. “And I'll bet you’d be just about perfect for him. So, just keep that in mind.”

 

********


	5. December

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I stan one (1) fandom.  
> xoxo  
> Berry

 

 

__

_December_

____________

There was no reason to rush. Rey took her time meandering the neighborhood streets that led to the cafe.

Her deadline long past and her second novel a raging success, life faltered as Rey wondered what came next for both herself, and the franchise.

Kira was happily ensconced in Kylo’s incarcerated arms. It felt right to make him suffer a while, awaiting sentencing on Fendelat for war crimes. With Kira constantly brain-hoaxing the Fighter guards for a booty call, it wasn’t like he was actually suffering cruelly, after all. He could wait.

Phasma was satisfied with sales, navigating the language translations, and celebrating with the publishers, so Rey hadn’t even heard from her in a week. They’d spent so much time together through the autumn, it was a well-deserved break, anyhow.

Rose and Finn had gotten engaged as soon as they’d returned from New York in November, and a Thanksgiving proposal actually suited them perfectly. They had a wedding to plan, and a house to buy together. Things were moving right along for them.

The final book signing Rey attended the week before completed her publicity tour for the new book, and even the cafe would be closed for the holidays in another day or so.

She was officially finished with work. And she was already bored to tears. She missed Kira acutely, and the entire, imaginary universe. And she missed Kylo.

She had never seen her stranger again.

Not when she’d flown into the cafe last-minute, tempting fate by arriving at a random time. Not when she’d scoured airports, and taxis, nightclubs, and book signings.

She’d looked for him whenever she rode a subway, or saw a newspaper. When she spotted a tall man, or a dark pair of pretty eyes. He eluded her so completely, Rey wondered if she’d imagined him along with her entire book.  
  
_Maybe that’s why the cafe staff couldn’t recall him._

_Maybe I manufactured the whole thing._

Kicking an acorn, she gazed at the low-lying branches overhead as she walked aimlessly, weighing the last year.

She’d produced an entire work of fiction. She ought to need nothing else to achieve happiness.

_I’ve done pretty well this year._

_Maybe I never nailed down my stranger, but I still came out on top, thankyouverymuch._

_And what if I’d found him and he’d been a jerk?_

_What if I hated him?_

_What if we fought all the time, or he had terrible breath, or a criminal record?_

 

She pulled the door of the cafe open, and walked thoughtfully to the counter.

 _He was a possibility._   _A promising one._

Her heart squeezed at the memory, trying to silence its hopeful cry.

 _Hope is a treasure. You gotta hang on tight._  

“Alright Leia,” she agreed quietly. “I will.” Calmly, she greeted the barista, tugging her wallet from her bag.

“Hi. I’ll have a medium iced peppermint latte, please. No - on second hand - you know what? Make that a _large_.”

“M’kay,” the cafe employee nodded. “And what’s your name?”

“Rey,” she said brightly. She forced herself to forgive the fact she’d given her single-syllable name to the employees for the last three years solid. She breathed through it when the barista wrote _Gray_ on the cup and turned to walk towards the end of the bar.

 _Come home with me,_ large _iced peppermint latte. You get to be my happy ending_.

“Gray!” It rang through the cafe as she reached for her coffee.

“Thank you,” she blinked cheerfully at the barista. Shaking her head at the misspelling, she turned for home.

“Rachel?”

Her feet stopped as her eyes widened.

_That voice._

Her breath caught, and she froze.

“Rachel Wilder?”

_Ohmygod._

Moving slowly, she twisted to face her regular seat, swallowing a mouthful of cold coffee. Her eyes landed on him as the sweet shock exploded.

_My stranger._

Like he’d never left, he sat tall and gorgeous in Rey’s normal seat, long legs stretched beyond the tiny chair, eyebrows raised as he looked straight at her. His eyes were creamed coffee, swirling sweetness and heat. That hair, the set of his jaw, his hands splayed on the tabletop, widely enough to engulf her. 

 _It's him._  

Rey blinked and tried to make sense of what was happening. She stared back at him until he spoke again with that dark chocolate voice, that ocean floor voice.

“You’re - Rachel Wilder. Right?” His throat worked as he stood. The chair legs scratched as he towered above Rey, licking his lips, drawing her eyes to his mouth.

“Rey. I go by Rey.” His jaw flexed as she turned to face him fully. “Rachel Wilder is my pen name.”

She watched as the edge of his smile curved shyly, crooked teeth and blazing eyes melting her into a female puddle.

“That’s why they couldn’t help me find you,” he said with a head toss in the direction of the cafe bar.

“Find me?” She took a small step his direction, fighting to believe this was real.

“These super helpful employees here. Said they didn’t have a regular customer who went by Rachel.”

She stared at him, willing it to make sense.

“I even showed them your author’s photo. The one from the dust jacket of your book,” he said, mumbling under his breath, “dumbasses.”

“Well…” she started, remembering their cluelessness when she’d tried to locate him. “They probably didn’t recognize me without messy hair. And my glasses,” she said, pointing to the tortoise-shell frames atop her nose.

He smiled fully, and she nearly fainted.

“I’ve been waiting for you. Looking for you,” he said.

_...waited for you...looked for you, Kylo told Kira._

“You have?”

“Three days.”

“Really?”

“I’ve hunted down half the Rachels in Los Angeles.”

Rey felt her head swim, and she nearly fell into the seat opposite him. “I’m sorry,” she said, her head in her hands as her elbows landed on the table. “I’m just...this is all sort of overwhelming.”

“Yeah,” he sighed, pulling a hand through his hair as Rey lifted her eyes. “I know how you feel. I read your book.”

“You did?” she squeaked, as he sat opposite her.

“On the plane.”

She grimaced and slipped her hands over her face again. “Are you...offended?”

“Offended?” he chuckled. “Hardly. More like extremely flattered.”

Rey peeked through her fingers, relieved to finally be discovered. He looked at her steadily, and her hands found her coffee cup. “But, how did you figure out about...all this,” she motioned to the cafe.

“The show. I saw you. On Leia's show and I knew,” he said. “I knew your face. I knew as soon as you started talking.”

Rey studied him as he spoke, earnest and calm, a handsome smirk gracing his face.

“I tried calling your publicist, but apparently about a million men claiming to be your real-life Kylo Ren had the same idea, so that got me nowhere.

“Then,” he continued, “I tried getting through the firewalls at your publisher’s office, but they were having none of that. At one point I talked to a lady who quizzed me about your real name, but I didn’t know it. Yeah,” he shook his head with a smile, “she hung up on me _real_ fast.”

Rey’s cheeks burned as his face lit up animatedly. She’d studied him so carefully last year, she could have earned a doctorate in his facial expressions, but this relaxed, endearing man was so much more peaceful. She could curl into his lap and take a nap like a sleepy kitten. Her chances of forgetting him now dwindled to nil.

“You have one hell of a protective team, I’ll tell you that much.”

Rey smiled and twisted her lips to one side, amazed at how much effort he’d made.

“So, I decided I would revisit the scene of the crime. See if my theory held, and maybe I’d run into you again the only place I knew to look. I hopped on a plane and got lost in your really kickass story on the flight, and...here I am.”

“Here you are.” Wide-eyed, she shook her head slowly, willing it all to make sense.

“I had to see for myself it you were the same girl I’d seen back in L.A., but I think I knew from the moment I saw that interview begin. It was you.”

“You saw the _Leia_ interview,” she breathed, sorting the facts. “You just turned on the TV one day and...that’s it?”

“Not exactly.” He tugged at the back of his neck as his head ducked. “I didn’t see it right away. She’d been hounding me about that interview for weeks. Wanted me to watch it. She really fell in love with you, with your book. Wouldn’t shut up about it.”

“Who...Leia?” Rey asked. “You know Leia?”

“Well, yeah. She’s my mom."

_I’ve got a son who’s still single...you’d be about perfect for him._

“You’re Leia’s son.”

“That’s me.”

_Am I asleep?_

_Is this a dream?_

“And you came to L.A. to...find me?”

He nodded. “I remembered you. Your studious, little self. Fucking cute. I was about to work up the nerve to ask you to dinner, even if I knew I only had two months left in L.A. till I left.”

She'd been about to blush, but curiosity beat out shyness. “You were? But, then why _did_ you leave?”

“My boss. Well, my former boss. He was,” he paused, thinking, “not a good person. When he said ‘jump’ you just did it and thought later. He cut my west coast stint short, and called me back to New York.”

Rey lowered her eyes feeling foolish remembering his absence, how she’d looked for him all those months, and all the while he’d been thousands of miles away.

“I’m a much happier person now that I don’t work for him anymore. Trust me.”

“God, this is mind-blowing.”

“It’s something else.”

“Oh! Fuck!” Rey’s hand flew to cover her mouth in shock. “Oh my god!” Her head landed on the table with a thud.

“What is it? You don’t believe me? Or…” he stuttered.

“I wrote about you,” she whined miserably, voice muffled by her arms. “Like, explicitly. About your whole…” She motioned to his body vaguely with a hand.

“You sure did,” he said. “Naughty girl.”

Her face flushed brightly as she peeked above her arms, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. His eyes sparkled with mischief and his satisfied smirk glowed with male pride.

“I’m _so_ sorry.”

“Don’t be. I sort of loved it.”

“You did?” she asked, raising her head.

“Yeah. You’re an amazing writer.”

“Thank you.” She bit her lip and fiddled with her coffee cup before meeting his eyes. “You were my inspiration.”

They sat holding one another’s gaze for a moment, until Rey forgot where she was.

“Have that dinner with me now? Please?”

“I’d love to…Wait - I still don’t know your name!”

“Ben,” he said with smile as he extended a hand across the table. “My name is Ben.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said, slipping her hand into his, “Ben.” She glanced at their joined hands, a familiar lightning brighten her heart and he stood, still holding her hand.

“Ready?”

Rey looked up into his eyes and laced her fingers with his as she stepped around the small table. Her heart tumbled as they walked to the cafe door together, their hands threaded together as he led the way. She looked at him as he met her eyes, and all words flew out of her head, a hapless flock of gulls winging cheerfully against a blue, California winter sky.

He winked at her before sliding black shades over his eyes, and she gazed at him, dumbstruck as they stepped through the door.

Rey - the writer, the novelist, the wordsmith rendered speechless by this prince, her stranger.

 _Ben_.

 

************

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Everything, darling readers!  
> Berry  
> 

**Author's Note:**

> come be my person on [tumblr](https://strawberrycupcakehuckleberrypie.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/)


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